Insight #25: On definitions

Hello everyone and welcome to Insight #25: On definitions.

Before we begin I would like to apologize for the lack of submittions. It appears my mind has been more lost in distraction as or late. I don't know if I can remediate the situation but for now I shall continue with this insight.

• Definitions are everywhere, and we use them everyday. Their utility and necessity is often taken for granted, for they are the underlying structure of speech and thought themselves. They are like the ground your house is built upon, always there but never in your conscious mind.

• Today I would like to not only bring some light into their nature but also a reconciliation of what happens when we look deeper into them, for there is a paradox that underlies I believe all definitions when we really inquire on them.

• This paradox occurs when we try to define something, almost anything really. Take the concept of quality, which inspired this insight (thanks to the book Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, highly recommended.)

• What is quality? Well, it is one of those things that you know when you see it, especially when you compare it to another specimen of something. Two books, for example. Even if they contain the same text one will be newer, nicer feeling, or better in some way. The quality will be higher even if just a little bit, and even if we can't really tell why it feels that way.

• As we can see defining quality can be very tough, especially if we don't have such an example as the one above. Sure, we can go on and on about what qualities quality has, such as newness, or ulitity, but in the end the concept itself is rather loose.

• The paradox then is that how can we ever talk about quality in objective terms if the definition itself seems to vary. Maybe we just haven't found the ultimate arrangement of words that contains the concept of quality perfectly, but I believe that is neither possible nor necessary. Instead we need to develop the capacity for holding paradox in our heads and using them as necessary.

• The reality of the situation is that all concepts are like this, not just quality. Another classic example is that of the word “wet”. Is water wet? It seems that way, but others say that wet is when something else has water within it. Who's right? In my opinion both can be right, but not at the same time.

• That might sound confusing but it is the key of how to manage paradox. The context. Any definition will have a sort of ideal scenario, ideal way of being. How it would be if it existed in a vacuum. Take a chair for example. We can imagine what a chair is like, and depending of many things that first chair we think of, the one in the vacuum, will have certain qualities. However we can also just as quickly imagine a different chair, with other materials or structure, and it will be a chair nonetheless.

• The ulitity of definitions then exists in the context of their use. Funnily enough the things other than what is being defined, especially those that directly surround or affect it, can be more important in the definition than what is being defined. However that all exists outside of consciousness of course, which is why I'm shining a light upon it.

• For example, if you want to define what an airplane is, the definition itself will change more if you are telling it to a 5 year old, or an experienced pilot, than if you where telling it to that same pilot regarding two different planes.

• Think about it. Isn't that interesting? We take this world of context for granted and usually focus on what's being talked about. But it is often even more important to know context over content. I wonder how much of our lives would change if we operated with this switch in importance.

Anyways, this is one of those insights that could go on forever, so I will end it here. I hope you can see the unfinished quality of it, and take your mind for a spin. Remember the goal of these insights are for you to take them as a foundation for your own contemplation.

Until next time, I hope you have great holidays!